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"

Todos somos Bi "

en 2003. Su tema Down With My Baby explotaba en la telenovela Resistir y la fama no tard en llegar, pero tambin los dolores de cabeza. Mientras que la novela tena picos de 47 puntos de rating, a Kevin le daba vergenza llevar a su hija Miranda al colegio: Me agarr fobia, otra vez la preocupacin de pensar que no iban a entender lo que hago. Deca: Ay, no, van a pensar que canto temas romanticotes en ingls. Era un himno al cachondeo, recuerda hoy entre risas, sobre el tema de su disco Sur o no Sur que supo ser la cortina de las escenas ms ardientes entre Pablo Echarri y Celeste Cid. Cmo fue esa transformacin de pasar de ser un cantante de culto a uno ms popular? Al principio me agarraba la cabeza, fue un sacudn, un momento jugado. Estaba muy cmodo con mi pblico y de golpe el disco se haba convertido en algo masivo, tuvo una muy buena respuesta a nivel regional y fue nominado a tres Grammys latinos, algo que no me hubiera imaginado, porque era completamente alternativo. Pero tambin es algo muy raro para el que te escucha, porque el que te vena siguiendo mira con recelo al que est sentado a lado y dice: Ay, quin es esta chusma nueva que viene a descubrir a mi artista, se que yo descubr cuando no era nadie?. Sin embargo, ahora en tus recitales se respira un clima muy relajado y se puede ver tanto a adolescentes como seoras, e incluso a muchos hombres. Cmo lograste captar a ese pblico masculino? En ese sentido Sur o no Sur fue un disco bisagra. Estaba el que era arrastrado a los recitales por la novia y tena cara de dale pibe, termin de una vez y el que te saludaba, te guiaba el ojo a la salida y te deca: Gracias, man, me facilitaste la noche con la piba. Dos o tres aos despus, con temas con otras temticas como

"We Are All Bi"

Kevin Johansen festeja diez aos con The Nada con una gira por el exterior y nuevo disco doble: Bi. Miedos y desafos de un cantante que supo romper con los prejuicios del mercado musical. / Kevin Johansen celebrates ten years with The Nada
by touring abroad and by releasing a new double album: Bi. The fears and challenges of a singer who knew how to break down the prejudices in the world of music.

Texto / Text: Gisela Carpineta Foto / Photo: Esteban Widnicky

n parque repleto de plantas y unos pequeos Budas en una estantera invitan a la calma. Mate en mano, relajado y sonriente, Kevin Johansen es el actor principal de esa atmsfera zen con la que logra transmitir paz en cada una de sus respuestas. El cantante naci en Alaska, y es hijo de una madre argentinsima y antiimperialista que se cas con un estadounidense; lleva el mestizaje en la sangre, y esa dualidad se refleja en el ttulo y la tapa de su nuevo disco doble: Bi. Todos somos bi: hijos de un padre y de una madre, biculturales, bilinges e incluso bisexuales, porque en el mundo hay tantas personas como sexualidades, ms all de que las opciones sean dos o tres, reflexiona el cantautor. A punto de comenzar su gira por Espaa y celebrando los diez aos junto a The Nada, decidi dividir este sexto trabajo en dos partes: Jogo/Subtropicalia y Fogo/Pop Heart. En el primero se anima a experimentar con su lado ms folclrico, tanguero y rioplatense; mientras que en el segundo es ms pop e incluye canciones en ingls y covers de Leonard Cohen y David Bowie. Es que, como si fuese una gran caja de sorpresas, Kevin demostr que no tiene lmites musicales ni fronteras idiomticas. Su camalenica propuesta puede ir desde la cumbia y el candombe hasta el blues, tango o rock; y todo esto cantado en ingls, espaol, portuol o spanglish. A los 48 aos, afirma que es un desgenerado y que su mayor desafo contina siendo el encasillamiento: Cuando era ms joven lo que haca pareca raro y me decan que no se entenda qu gnero era. Pero qu me importa! Me tena sin cuidado esa cuestin marketinera. Para m era re simple: eran canciones y punto. Pero su mayor lucha contra las etiquetas del mercado musical fue

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Desde que te perd, se fue acercanEl constante desafo musical es plasmar Mercury, Paulinho Moska, Lisandro Aristimuo o Santiago Vzquez, de do ese pibe ms prejuicioso, se que tu esencia y desde ah mostrarte. Pero La Bomba de Tiempo. Con todos crea que era re-comercial y al que no ellos, adems de una amistad, nos le caba ni medio la cuestin de poputampoco hay que cerrarse. lismo de Resistir. Adems, con la "It is a constant challenge to capture and show une una afinidad tica y esttica de la que nos nutrimos continuamenfusin con Liniers tambin se sum your essence musically." te. Por eso digo que los diez aos de un pblico ms joven y alternativo The Nada fueron muy ricos, aprend que se rea de lo que me haba pasado con Down With My Baby. Eso era lo que yo quera que sucediera: muchsimo. Sents que el reconocimiento te lleg de grande? que comprendieran que mi abanico era ms amplio. As como con Liniers, vens teniendo una fusin muy im- S, pero me pone muy contento. Gracias a eso, cuando lleg no portante con otros artistas no slo de la Argentina, sino estaba en una nube ni me crea re-groso, como si fuese el Pomelo de Peter Capusotto. Pese a que no sabs manejarlo porque es todo tambin de otros pases latinoamericanos. Antes estaba en contra de la moda de invitar a otros cantantes. nuevo, hubo una parte de m que con el tiempo logr rerse y disVena el periodista y te preguntaba quines iban a ser los invita- frutar de ese proceso de Resistir. Cuando te cae la ficha y te das dos y te agarra una cosa de decirle desafiante: Y si no hay nadie, cuenta de que gracias a ese tema la gente pregunt, investig y qu pasa?. Despus lo que me ocurri es que disfrutaba tanto del averigu qu hacs, est buensimo, porque la rem mucho tiemproceso de que viniera El Negro Rada al estudio, o ver cmo se po para llegar ac. paraba Len Gieco frente al micrfono, que no me import si era Ya ms slido, reconocido y con disco doble, qu buscs moda o no. En Bi los artistas van desde Lila Downs a Daniela ahora? Hay algn gnero sin explorar?
62 CielosArgentinos: Abril / April 2013

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Con la fusin con Liniers tambin se sum pblico ms joven y alternativo. Y eso era lo que yo quera que sucediera: que comprendieran que mi abanico era ms amplio. / "The union with Liniers
attracted a younger, more alternative audience. That was what I wanted to happen: they understood that my musical range was wider."
No podra hacer msica china ni hind, por ejemplo. Toco lo que conozco, me resulta cmodo navegar entre el folk, la msica caribea, brasilea y el lenguaje universal del rock. se es el constante desafo musical: plasmar tu esencia y desde ah mostrarte. Pero tampoco cerrarse, obvio. Tambin en tu da a da? Me gusta decir que conozco mis limitaciones, pero afortunadamente mis limitaciones no me conocen a m. Hasta en lo sexual uno lucha constantemente contra sus propios prejuicios y un montn de cosas que te marcan desde tu infancia. Todos esperamos evolucionar y tener la menor cantidad de tabes encima. Hay que tener una suerte de inconciencia, es parte del misterio de la vida.
of a father and a mother, bicultural, bilingual, or even bisexual, there are as many people as there are sexualities in this world, despite the fact that there are only two or three options," muses the singer-songwriter. About to start his tour of Spain, and celebrating ten years with The Nada, he decided to divide his sixth album into two parts: Jogo/Subtropicalia and Fogo/Pop Heart. In the part first he experiments with his folk, tango and Rio de la Plata side, while the second part is more pop and includes songs in English, and Leonard Cohen and David Bowie covers. He is a big box of surprises, Kevin has shown that he has no musical boundaries or language barriers. His influences vary from cumbia and candombe to blues, tango and rock - and he sings in English, Spanish, "Portuol, and Spanglish." At 48, he says that he does not tie himself to any particular genre and that this categorization is still his biggest challenge: "When I was younger I thought it was weird when people would tell me that they couldn't tell what genre my music was. But what do I care? I've never cared about marketing. For me it has always been simple: they are songs, period." But his biggest battle against the music market's labels was in 2003. His song Down With My Baby achieved success on the television soap opera Resistir, and fame came quickly, but so did problems.

A garden filled with plants and a bookcase filled with mini Buddhas invite calm. "Mate" in hand, relaxed and smiling, Kevin Johansen is center-stage in this Zen atmosphere and manages to convey peace in each of his answers. The singer was born in Alaska, and is the son of a "very Argentine, anti-imperialist mother" who married an American; he has a mixture of different heritages and that duality is reflected in the title and the cover of his new double album: Bi. "We are all bi: children 64 CielosArgentinos: Abril / April 2013

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While the soap was reaching viewing rating points as high as 47, Kevin was too embarrassed to take his daughter to school: "I would get scared; I was worried that people wouldn't understand what I do. I thought they would think that I just sang romantic songs in English. It was tongue-in-cheek," he laughs as he recalls the song from his album Sur o no Sur that became the dividing curtain between the hottest scenes starring Pablo Echarri and Celeste Cid. What was it like going from a cult following to becoming a more popular singer? - At first it was a shock, a difficult time. I was very comfortable with my audience and the record suddenly became massive, it was very successful at a regional level and was nominated for three Latin Grammys, something I would have never imagined because I was completely alternative. But it also something strange for fans who have been listening to you for some time, when new fans start to appear and they are like 'who are these people who have come to discover my artist, I discovered him when he was a nobody." However, the atmosphere at your shows is now very relaxed and there is a mixture or older and younger women, and even many men. How did you manage to capture the male audience? - In that sense Sur o no Sur was a turning point. I used to see those guys who had been dragged to the concert by their girlfriend and they would have a look on their face that said "come on man, get it over with," and there were those of them who would wink at me at the end of the show and say: "Thanks man, you made my girlfriend happy." Two or three years later, with different songs such as Desde que te perd, even the most closed-minded guys started coming to shows, those who thought I was a commercial act and who weren't even slightly interested in the popularity of Resistir. In addition, the union with Liniers attracted a younger, more alternative audience who laughed about what had happened to me with Down With My baby. That was what I wanted to happen: they understood that my musical range was wider. In addition to Liniers, you have collaborated with many other artists, not just from Argentina but from the rest of Latin America... It used to be fashionable to sing with guest singers. Journalists would ask you who the guest singers were going to be and I would feel like defiantly asking them "and what if there aren't any?" What happened is that I so much enjoyed the process of Rada coming to the studio, or seeing how Len Gieco would stand in front of the microphone, that I didn't care whether it was fashionable or not. On Bi the artists range from Lila Downs, to Daniela Mercury, Paulinho Moska, Lisandro Aristimuo, and Santiago Vzquez from La bomba de tiempo. Apart from just friendship, with all of them I share an ethic and aesthetic affinity from which we continuously draw. That's why I say that my ten years with The Nada were so good, I learned a lot. Do you feel like your recognition came late in life? - Yes, but it makes me very happy. It kept me from becoming big-headed, like Peter Capusotto's character 'Pomelo'. Although you do not know to handle it because it is all new, there was a part of me that eventually managed to laugh and enjoy that process with Resistir. When the penny drops and you realize that thanks to that song people asked about you, investigated, and found out that you do, it is great, because I worked hard for a long time to get where I am. You are now stronger, more recognized, and with a double album. What are you looking for now? Is there any genre you have left unexplored? I couldn't do Chinese or Indian music, for example. I play what I know; I find it easy to work with folk, Caribbean music, Brazilian music, and the universal language of rock. It is a constant challenge to capture and show your essence musically. But without closing yourself to anything, obviously. Does that apply to your daily life as well? I like to say that I know my limits, but unfortunately my limits don't know me. Even in our sexuality, we battle constantly against our own prejudices and things that have marked us since childhood. We all try to evolve and have fewer taboos. It's important not to think too much, it is part of the mystery of life.

66 CielosArgentinos: Abril / April 2013